© Marek Skorupski

Czesław Miłosz (30th June 1911 – 14th August 2004) was a Polish novelist, poet, essayist and translator, who gained Nobel Price for Literature in 1980.
Born in Šeteniai / Szetejnie, Russian Empire (nowadays Lithuania), he studied law in Vilnius, where his first poems were published. In the 1930s he travelled from Vilnius through Western Europe to Paris, where he later spent one year on a fellowship.
During the period of German occupation in World War II he lived in Warsaw. After the war, he served in Polish diplomatic service in France and the USA and obtained political asylum in France in 1951.
Since 1960 Miłosz spent more than 20 years working as Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California Berkeley. He gained U.S. citizenship in 1970.  
In 1978 Miłosz received the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and in 1980 the Nobel Price. Furthermore, he was honoured as a “Righteous among the Nations” at Israel’s Yad Vashem and gained other prestigious awards such as the U.S. National Medal of Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an honorary doctorate from Harvard University.
Before 1989 his work was banned in Poland for a long time. During that period most of his books were first published in France, the USA or in the Polish underground press.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 Miłosz divided his life between Krakow and Berkeley until he finally took up his residence in Krakow in 2000, where he died in 2004.
Miłoszs poetry is considered to be very rich in symbols and metaphors, whereas his novels often have autobiographical traits. Among his most impressive and renown works are “Zniewolony umysł“(The Captive Mind, 1953) about the behaviour of intellectuals in a totalitarian system, “Dolina Issy” (The Issa Valley, 1955) a poetic tale about the mythic Polish-Lithuanian landscape and “Rodzinna Europa” (Native Realm, 1958) an autobiographical reflection about the European mentality and history of the 20th century.  

Within the framework of the Miłosz-Year 2011 many events will take place to honour the great Polish artist who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year.

Selected works

Poetry

• Trzy zimy (Three Winters). Warsaw 1936.
• Ocalenie (Rescue). Warsaw 1945.
• Światło dzienne (The Light of Day). Paris 1953.
• Traktat poetycki (A Poetical Treatise). Paris 1957.
• Król Popiel i inne wiersze (King Popiel and Other Poems). Paris 1961.
• Miasto bez imienia (City Without a Name). Paris 1969.
• Gdzie słońce wschodzi i kedy zapada (Where the Sun Rises and Where it Sets). Paris 1974.
• Kroniki (Chronicles). Paris 1989.
• Dalsze okolice (Farther Surroundings). Krakow 1991.
• Orfeusz i Eurydyka (Orpheus and Eurydice). Krakow 2003.

Prose

• Zniewolony umysł (The Captive Mind). Paris 1953.
• Zdobycie władzy (The Seizure of Power). Paris 1955.
• Dolina Issy (The Issa Valley). Paris 1955.
• Rodzinna Europa (Native Realm). Paris 1958.
• The History of Polish Literature. London / New York 1969.
• Prywatne obowiązki (Private Obligations). Paris 1972.
• Ziemia Ulro (The Land of Ulro). Paris 1977.
• Zaczynając od moich ulic (Starting from My Streets). Paris 1985.
• Szukanie ojczyzny (In Search of a Homeland). Krakow 1992.
• Abecadło Milosza (Milosz's Alphabet). Krakow 1997.
• O podróżach w czasie (On time travel). Krakow 2004.